Who was the most over...

[JoeDirt 0]

Rank these guys from most to least, as far as how "over" they were with the fans at their peak. Also, maybe mention when you think their "peak" was.

 

Hogan

Flair

Austin

Rock

Bret

HBK

Sting

Andre

 

What do you think?

[The Mandarin 0]

I'd probably go with-

 

Hogan (1987)

Austin (1999)

Rock (2001)

Andre (1981)

HBK (1996)

Bret (1994)

Sting (1990 or 1997)

Flair (1989)

[Guest krazykat72]

Rank these guys from most to least, as far as how "over" they were with the fans at their peak. Also, maybe mention when you think their "peak" was.

 

Hogan

Flair

Austin

Rock

Bret

HBK

Sting

Andre

 

What do you think?

Austin (1998-99)

Hogan ( 1986-87)

Rock (2000)

Flair (in terms of being a heel, probably 1985, as a face, he's lower on the list in 1989)

HBK (1996) (specifically, the IYH Good Friends, Better Enemies match)

Bret (1994)

Sting (1997, by a wide margin)

 

 

 

Andre- not rated. a huge territory draw for a long time, hard to rate nationally.

 

-Paul Jacobi-

[Jericho2000Mark 0]

If you mean their peak in popularity, then...

 

Austin(98-99)

Hogan(86-87, early 2002)

Rock(Mid-Late 99. Edited)

Andre(late 70's)

Sting(97)

Flair(98)

Bret(93-94)

HBK(95)

[Guest LooneyTune]

Hogan and Austin are neck and neck.

 

1. Hogan (1983-1987)

2. Austin (1997-1999)

3. Flair (1984-1988)

4. The Rock (1999-2000)

 

Bret, HBK, and Sting are all in the same boat. None were great draws, but were over, but not super over. If I HAD to rank, I'd say Sting is ahead of them, since he was the first name you'd think of when hearing WCW. Bret second for 1993-1994, but 1997 as a heel. Michaels...eh, he was never THAT over to judge for certain years, but it was probably around 1995.

 

Andre I can't really rate. His prime was during the Territorial days. So overall...

 

1. Hogan, 2. Austin, 3. Flair, 4. The Rock, 5. Sting (pretty much every year from 1989-1997), 6. Bret Hart, 7. Michaels, N/A. Andre.

[MikeJordan23 0]

Goldberg from April 1998 - August was the most popular wrestler of all-time.

 

The others

 

1)Austin from January 1998 - 2000

2) Hogan from 1986 - 1989

3) Sting 1997

[Guest LooneyTune]

Is that why WCW had piped in chants of "Gold-Berg" every week, even when the crowd looked dead?

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Is that why WCW had piped in chants of "Gold-Berg" every week, even when the crowd looked dead?

Maybe later on, but in 1998 Goldberg was arguably as over as Steve Austin at the time.

[Guest fanofcoils]

Goldberg from April 1998 - August was the most popular wrestler of all-time.

 

The others

 

1)Austin from January 1998 - 2000

2) Hogan from 1986 - 1989

3) Sting 1997

Why Goldberg in August? Didn't he win the title in July? And why no Hogan in 1985 also?

[MikeJordan23 0]

Goldberg from April 1998 - August was the most popular wrestler of all-time.

 

The others

 

1)Austin from January 1998 - 2000

2) Hogan from 1986 - 1989

3) Sting 1997

Why Goldberg in August? Didn't he win the title in July? And why no Hogan in 1985 also?

Well mainly because after he won the title, he actually started getting less pub. Sorta like Bret in 1997. He was the Champion but the main angles were around Hollywood and Nash.

 

Hogan was crazy over in 1985, but I think he got to OH MY GOD level after WrestleMania I. That's when Hogan's craze was at it's height.

 

The Rock in 2000 deserves some mention...when he ebatTriple H for the WWf title at BackLash maybe be the loudest I heard a crowd for a title change.

[MikeJordan23 0]

Is that why WCW had piped in chants of "Gold-Berg" every week, even when the crowd looked dead?

Maybe later on, but in 1998 Goldberg was arguably as over as Steve Austin at the time.

Yep. Goldberg was even MORE popular than Austin from Early 1998 to late 1998. Then he started becoming less of the headline and they had him feuding with Bigelow and then losing thetitle to Nash completely ended it.

[hbkhhhmark4life 0]

maybe im just a mark 4 hbk and hunter lol but i think hunter from 98-99 was pretty over for the character position, his heel persona from then was pretty cool

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

You're kidding right?

 

HHH was getting a huge push and was getting no response until Foley got involved in 2000.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

1. Hogan, 1987 (Wrestlemania III was his peak.)

2. Austin, 1998 (His peak was at Summerslam 98.)

3. Rock, 2000 (Wrestlemania 2000ish)

4. Flair, 1991 (Flair's had so many peaks and valleys, but I will say 1991 when basically the entire fanbase went on strike when he left the company. 1998 is a close second.)

5. Sting, 1997

6. Bret, 1997 (Canadian Stampede. Without out a doubt the peak of Bret's popularity, loved in Canada, hated in the US, everyone had an opinion regardless.)

7. Andre, 1987 (He was getting pelted with garbage just by stepping out from the curtain. I would say that was pretty good heel heat.)

8. HBK, 1996 (Royal Rumble time, right after the injury angle. He was still pretty popular by Wrestlemania, but less so than in Dec/Jan of 95-96.)

[Guest fanofcoils]

Rock was arguably as popular in 1999 as he was in 2000. Wrestlemania III was Hogan's peak? How was he more popular then than in 1985 and 1986? He had his biggest match with Andre, but was he more popular? Austin at Summerslam 98? How was he at his peak in popularity then? And what about Austin at Wrestlemania XIV and Wrestlemania XV? Bret Hart was as over in 1997 as he was in many other years in the 1990s. The only difference is Bret was face/heel as you mentioned. What do you base your HBK peak in popularity on in that time on those PPVs?

[Guest fanofcoils]

HHH didn't exist to me until after Wrestlemania XV when he became a main eventer. Before then I viewed him on par with any other midcarder like Shamrock.

[Guest krazykat72]

You're kidding right?

 

HHH was getting a huge push and was getting no response until Foley got involved in 2000.

That's wrong. He was a very over upper mid carder in the summer of '98.

D-X was a *very* over heel act from 9/97-3/98, then a very popular upper mid card faction until early '99.

 

Triple H stalled a bit, but it was more a combo of the McMahon/Helmsley wedding *and* Foley rather than just Foley that put him over the top.

 

 

-Paul Jacobi-

[MikeJordan23 0]

You're kidding right?

 

HHH was getting a huge push and was getting no response until Foley got involved in 2000.

Well he was crazy over in DX. When he first turned heel he wasn't getting much of a reaction because he was boring.

[Jericho2000Mark 0]

Rock was arguably as popular in 1999 as he was in 2000.

I agree, in fact, he was probably more over in mid-late '99 than at any time in 2000.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Rock was arguably as popular in 1999 as he was in 2000.  Wrestlemania III was Hogan's peak?  How was he more popular then than in 1985 and 1986?  He had his biggest match with Andre, but was he more popular?  Austin at Summerslam 98?  How was he at his peak in popularity then?  And what about Austin at Wrestlemania XIV and Wrestlemania XV?  Bret Hart was as over in 1997 as he was in many other years in the 1990s.  The only difference is Bret was face/heel as you mentioned.  What do you base your HBK peak in popularity on in that time on those PPVs?

Rock. Late 99 maybe. I don't mean those specific PPVs, but around that time to get a more specific period than a single year. A year is a long time in wrestling. Rock was at his most over in the winter of 1999-2000 and early spring 2000. He seemed to lose something after failing to win the belt at Wrestlemania and hasn't been the same since. He was easily more over during his Big Show & HHH feuds than he was feuding with Billy Gunn in 1999. He was very over early in 1999, but it was early in 2000 that he became a household name.

 

Hogan. 1986 is arguable, but Hogan was nowhere near his peak in 1985. 1986 is during the Orndorff feud and Hogan was reaching his peak around then, but it continued into 1987 which is my point. Hogan is tougher to gauge than most because he was superover all the way through 1990. But what was the period where he drew the most money? It was 1987, the absolute height of the WWF Golden Age. That is why I chose that year.

 

The Austin phenonemon joined the next level at Royal Rumble 98, and kicked into the stratosphere at Wrestlemania, but it took awhile for word to spread. Up until Summerslam 98 it was the Austin show. Summerslam also had the IC Title Ladder Match which would end up marking the beginning of Rock's rise. By Wrestlemania XV Austin was still megaover, but he was becoming a bit stale and there was the sense that Rock was really starting to gain ground on him (it would take until Survivor Series time for them to pull about even). His peak was August/Sept 1998, and it was a long, slow decline from then.

 

Bret Hart's peak as a face was 1994, but he was never as over then as he was in 1997. He started losing favour after Calgary Stampede (and especially Summerslam) to HBK. His WCW career was forgettable. Bret Hart's career was never bigger than at his homecoming at Calgary Stampede. This is the one case where you can really link it to a single PPV. He's the easiest to figure out of all of them.

 

The backlash against HBK started when they started the boyhood dream angle headed into Wrestlemania, which is a shame because he was huge in the summer and fall of 1995, and for his return from injury at the Royal Rumble. He had a rather rapid fall, going from being by far the star of the company at the Rumble to being booed heavily in October. He got over again as a heel in 1997, but a lot of that was run-off from Montreal and he never was the most hated heel on RAW in 1997-98, Vince was. In 1988-1994 he was a midcarder, they aren't even an option.

[Guest krazykat72]

The backlash against HBK started when they started the boyhood dream angle headed into Wrestlemania, which is a shame because he was huge in the summer and fall of 1995, and for his return from injury at the Royal Rumble. He had a rather rapid fall, going from being by far the star of the company at the Rumble to being booed heavily in October. He got over again as a heel in 1997, but a lot of that was run-off from Montreal and he never was the most hated heel on RAW in 1997-98, Vince was. In 1988-1994 he was a midcarder, they aren't even an option.

Shawn was still plenty over for the Diesel feud, through KotR '96, and watching the Foley match, he's still doing just fine in September '96 too. I don't know what you're talking about in RAW of October '96, other than him possibly being booed against Vader in a tag match (which I don't recall how it came out at the time)

We know what happened with Sid at the Garden, but it's hard to gauge as he didn't do too much between then and the '97 Rumble (where he was the hometown hero).

 

He was a bigger heel than Bret from 9/97 till Survivor Series, and DX, not Vince was the biggest heel faction on RAW until WrestleMania '98. Vince's heel persona didn't really come through until the night after 'Mania where he told Austin he'd be doing things Vince's way.

 

 

-Paul Jacobi-

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

The thing to remember about HBK and how over he was during his first title reign, is that he was a horrible ratings draw, and he also was in the headline match, him and Undi against Mankind and Goldust, which might have drawn the lowest paid attendance to MSG ever, around 3,700. While you can partially excuse the ratings deal to the NWO, the fact is his persona was a huge turn-off to the male demographic, and that really hurts the ratings when that's your key demographic.

[Guest LooneyTune]

The fact WWF was going to turn Michaels face because he was getting less and less cheers by the end of 1996 shows how over of a face he was.

 

And again, Bret, Nash, and Shawn were headlining the worst WWF days ever when ratings were shit and buyrates were even worse. Diesel main evented house shows drawing barely 1,000 people in 1995, Michaels drew one of the worst MSG's ever, and...Bret didn't suck THAT much, but he wasn't much better.